Ting asks some good questions in his response to you, regarding visible and invisble factors. Physical balance breaking is plain to see. It is the kuzushi that most are familiar with. I have no problem with the basic nature of this. However, if the mind/ki is led correctly, the body has little option but to follow. This is closer to what is being seen, than in the alternative clip you provide below.

Good question, but I doubt it. I spend more time now exploring the truth in the basic movements, than I did when I was at a similar level to yourself.

Interesting clip, it is obvious to see the uke being stretched, but my question would be, why does the uke give himself away so easily? He stands quite static allowing his arm to be drawn away from his body, thereby losing connection with his centre and the ground. This is common for most ukemi I watch being done. It is easy to throw someone, who gives themselves away like this.

I agree with this,

I too train under a man of undoubted great power, who never spends time intellectualising aikido, a true man of budo. He no longer asks for uke to be strong, to push him, stop him moving etc. he went through all, that along time ago in the early years. He now insists that uke is relaxed, sincere in their attack, that they stay connected throughout the attack, and they don't give themselves away. He has mastered the non resistance that is at the heart of aikido. It is a phenomenal experience to be thrown with such effortless power.

As you practice and improve your own aikido, I'm sure you will see things in others that you cannot see at the moment, such is the nature of all of this.

Personally, I enjoy watching different types/styles of aikido, I learn more from trying to understand them, than by watching demos of ki aikido, which I think I understand to a decent level already.

regards,

Mark

the point I was making, is that neither his mind nor body appears to be led; if someone wants to resist, it appears that they can. Also: with regards the ikkyo at the beginning - i've always been taught that that's bad from both uke's, and nage's perspective: 'aiki' denotes connection; yet, uke got away from nage, and nage had to catch up to him; not only is that a lack of aiki, but a lack of martial awareness - and without the martial element, the techniques of aikido make no sense whatsoever.

You want to know why Gozo Shioda's uke for an instructional tape of Yoshinkan aikido's techniques, gives himself away easily?

If somebody's centred, they cannot be thrown; in aikido, you take somebody's balance, and can therefore throw them with ease.

The point of the instructor asking that his students test him, is to validate the effectiveness of his technique - i.e., so nobody looks at it and says "That's fake: he's taking a dive for him."; if I saw something similar in the Ki Aikido I have seen, I might actually regard it as effective.

I know there are things I cannot see at the moment; however, I can tell when somebody is sincerely reacting to a technique - and when they are feigning it: it's happened to me often enough.